Chapter 4: Fighting Companions

  Xiao Qiu opened her eyes, her mind a complete blank, feeling extremely tired. However, with the force of habit, she still sprang to the ground, walked out a few steps in a daze, and only remembered that this was not her home when she bumped into a stool. Today, he didn't need to let the horse go, but instead had to head to a distant, unfamiliar place.

  The old woman came out of the inner room, her back slightly hunched, and walked with a slight limp, but she was extremely calm. Not only did she quickly plan for the future, but also made all preparations without making any noise: enough food to eat for three days, scattered silver coins stored separately, several sets of spare clothes, etc., were all packed into two large bundles. The paper note with the address on it was handed over to Fangfang to keep close at hand, and even a set of saddle was provided.

  Fang Fang changed into an old dress of Feng Po Po's, which was a bit loose and seemed to be still sleepy. Her face was filled with confusion, but when she hugged Feng Po Po goodbye, she showed great reluctance to part, shedding many tears. She then mounted her horse and from then on remained silent, hanging her head low.

  Although grateful for the care and guidance of the old woman, Xia Qiu was still delighted to be able to leave this place. The kind gaze of the old lady always seemed to carry a hint of inquiry, making Xia Qiu dare not meet her eyes.

  Jujube Red Horse knew nothing about the journey to the future, and after walking out of the hospital gate, he naturally turned towards the wild forest town in the east, still wanting to go to the familiar forest to eat grass. Little Autumn corrected his direction, and he did not object, silently walking on the main road.

  The two set out at dawn, and the sun soon became scorching. The sorrel horse instinctively walked under the shade of trees, always wanting to stop and eat grass. Xia Qiu ran back and forth, driving it to continue on the road, occasionally raising her head to steal a glance at Fang Fang on the horse's back.

  It's been too quiet, the monotonous sound of horseshoes made Xia Qiu feel anxious. "Wind Grandma." After a while, he finally thought of something to say.

  "Mm." Fang Fang still hung her head, looking sulky and unhappy.

  "She's really something, having connections in Xijie City and a good heart, preparing so many things for us, even saddles, as if she knew we... would be leaving Ye Lin Town."

  "She's fine," Fangfang said in a low voice, her lips seeming not to move at all.

  Xiao Qiu thought it was boring and couldn't understand why Fangfang, who had been so excited yesterday, would be so listless after waking up. He darted into the roadside woods, picked some colorful wildflowers, and quickly wove them into a flower wreath.

  He did these things unconsciously, until he held the finished beautiful flower garland in his hand and felt that only Fangfang was suitable to wear it. However, he couldn't open his mouth, nor could he make a hint, the little girl on horseback was really too unfamiliar to him, and now he still can't see her true appearance.

  It was almost noon when Xiao Qiu still held onto the flower ring.

  The official road turned a big bend not far away, from west to south. It was just from there that the lush trees would gradually become scarce and transition to waist-high patches of mugwort.

  Xiao Qiu ran ahead and was still several zhang away from the corner when she stopped in her tracks, drawn to a strange mark on the ground.

  It was a strip of floating earth that traversed the road surface, like an ant hole, but the soil was too coarse and looked more like a child's handiwork.

  Fang Fang rode up on horseback, reined in the reins and asked: "What is that?"

  This was her first time speaking up the whole morning, but Xiao Qiu didn't notice, his mind fully focused on that strip of floating soil, "It seems like someone drew a line, I don't know what it means..."

  The two of them immediately understood its meaning, and a long rope suddenly jumped out from the floating soil, made of tree bark, thick and long. Along with it came the shouting voices from both sides of the road, heart-wrenching and earth-shattering, startling dozens of birds nearby into flight.

  The two of them and the horse were startled at the same time, Xia Qiu instinctively jumped back a step, the sorrel horse raised its front hoof and let out a long whinny, and Fang Fang on top of it cried out in alarm as she fell to the ground.

  Things happened too fast, and several figures rushed out of the bushes on both sides. Xia Qiu couldn't help Fang Fang in time, and instead faced the fastest ambusher, opening his mouth to let out a loud shout, refusing to lose momentum to the opponent.

  Xiao Qiu knocked down the first ambusher, then fell into a siege and melee, with people everywhere, no need to look for targets, just stretch out your hand to hit, and can't defend, fists came like raindrops.

  "Halt! Stop fighting, everyone stand down!"

  The melee stopped, Xia Qiu's arms were entwined with one person, her neck was being strangled by another, and there were two more people beside her, their fists raised ready to join the fight.

  A few steps away, Er Gou scanned the entire scene with a stern expression and found that everyone was obedient except for one person.

  Tu Zi was young and small in stature, but very cleverly he didn't pounce on Xiao Qiu, instead taking the fallen Fang Fang as his opponent. At this moment, the two were still wrestling, with Tu Zi not gaining a clear advantage.

  "I said stop." Er Bao raised his voice.

  The bald man finally heard the leader's command, he was obedient and immediately relaxed his whole body strength, was pushed by Fang Fang's hands on his chest, his arms flailed wildly, and fell to the ground with a thud, but he didn't cry out in pain, instead he laughed loudly.

  "We're not here to catch people," Er Biao said.

  All the young men loosened their grip, and Xiao Qiu also let go. He saw Da Liang and Er Liang, two brothers, and somewhat believed Er Shuang's words.

  Er Biao kicked the bald man on the body, stopping his inexplicable laughter, then walked in front of Xiao Qiu and said seriously: "Xiao Qiu brother, you're a good guy, let's help you."

  Xiao Qiu became even more bewildered and cautiously asked: "Aren't you here to take us back to the town?"

  "Of course not, I just guessed that old madwoman was telling a lie, so I stayed here waiting for you."

  "What are you doing this for?" Xia Qiu pointed at the rope on the ground, and the other person's behavior seemed more like intercepting than helping.

  "I'm afraid you'll run away." Er Stang seemed to think that this matter was so simple that it didn't need any more explanation.

  Dali hastily spoke up, "It was my idea. I thought you saw... the two of them, they might have sped away quickly, but I didn't let them jump out and fight." Dali glared at Zhenzi in annoyance, earlier he had been unable to stop him.

  There were eight young men blocking the road, except for the two brothers, Da Liang and Er Liang, the other six were all with Er Bing. If Xiao Qiu saw them, he would have jumped on his horse and sped away with Fang Fang a long time ago. "Why do you want to help me?"

  "It's because you're doing a good deed." Er Zhuang turned to Fang Fang, his voice solemn and slightly pretentious. "Fang Fang, I apologize on behalf of the Shen family, and I hope I can make it up to you."

  The transformation of Er Bao was beyond everyone's expectation, Xiao Qiu and Fang Fang were stunned, they looked at each other, all half-believing and half-doubting, Xiao Qiu finally saw Fang Fang's appearance clearly.

  Not quite the same as the little girl in his memory, only a few years apart, Fangfang has undergone many changes, with only one thing remaining the same: the big eyes always have a frightened and uneasy expression, as if she would be called out to speak in front of a crowd of strangers at any time.

  She handed over the power of decision to Xia Qiu.

  "I don't believe you," Xia Qiu said, although Da Liang and Er Liang brothers were there, he still found it hard to accept the change in Er Zhuang's gang.

  "I can make you believe me." Er Biao was very confident, and after a pause, "Where are you going?"

  "Mind your own business."

  "In any case, you'll have to take the official road. Let me tell you, you can at most make it to Linhe Town, and if you go any further, you'll be caught. My father has sent someone to report to the authorities in Xia'er Fortress, and the Xuanfu Army has already set up a dragnet, so you won't be able to escape anywhere."

  Xiao Qiu was startled, he had seen the Xuanfu Army once when he was seven years old, and his impression of those soldiers covered in black armor was extremely deep, filling him with reverence. He never thought that one day he would become their target, but he refused to give up, "I have my own way to escape."

  "What if you can't escape? Fangfang still wants to marry my brother, and now my father doesn't like her anymore. And as for you, my father is furious, saying he wants to beat you to death."

  Xiao Qiu felt a bit discouraged, he knew almost nothing about the world outside of Ye Lin Town, and had no way to escape the Xuanfu Army. He glanced at Fang Fang, who looked even more bewildered, then turned to Da Liang, who nodded in agreement, apparently having been persuaded by Er Shuang.

  "Alright, I believe you." Xia Qiu found it difficult to say these words, but once they were out of his mouth, he felt a sense of relief. It was easy for him to hate someone and forgive someone, a characteristic of his youthful nature. "We're going to Xi Jie City, there...there are acquaintances there."

  "Xī Jiè City!" The young men exclaimed in unison, they were just like Xiao Qiu, having only a vague concept of their country's capital, thinking it was a place far away in the sky.

  Er Bai was the only one who didn't look surprised, "Xi Jie Cheng is not bad, you can hide very well, my uncle's family lives there, I lived there for a few months."

  The boys looked at Er Dongqi with a changed expression. He was originally the tallest, and now he seemed even more majestic.

  "Can you evade the Xuanfu Army?" Xia Qiu asked.

  "Two nods, 'The main road can't be taken, we have to take a detour.'"

  Xiao Qiu has never even walked on a big road, let alone small roads, so she can only nod her head.

  "There is a map in my house." This sentence thoroughly established his leadership position, and the two brothers, Daliang and Erliang, took a deep breath. Even Xia Qiu couldn't help but slightly open her lips, they hadn't even seen what the map looked like.

  He squatted on the ground, picked up a sharp stone and drew a circle first, then several horizontal and vertical lines. "Our Wild Forest Town is in the east, and Xijie City is in the southwest. In fact, they are not far apart, but there is a big mountain and a large forest in between, which makes the official road winding and distant. My plan is to take a shortcut, enter the forest along the river and head southwest. I estimate that it will take five or six days to get out of the forest, then turn onto the official road, and Xijie City will be only a few days away."

  Er Duo said it so affirmatively, as if he had taken this shortcut before, so no one raised any objections. On the first day of leaving home, they felt nothing but excitement.

  "Alright." Xia Qiu completely trusted Er Huan now. "We'll take the small path, you guys help me stall for time, don't let Xuanfu Army catch up."

  The second uncle stood up and shook his head hard, "Let's go to Xijie City together, I'll lead the way."

  "Xiao Qiu still didn't quite understand, 'You... why did you want to help us?'"

  Er Biao rubbed his head twice, "Just because I called out 'good', my dad beat me up yesterday, saying I was a traitor. I'll let him see what a real 'traitor' looks like."

  It was settled just like that. The young men who were fighting with Xia Qiu just now became partners in the same boat, and they came up one by one to tap him on the shoulder.

  Only one young man seemed hesitant, "Is the forest safe? I've heard that monsters and ghosts like to live in deep mountains and old forests. The day before yesterday, a Taoist priest came to our town, my father said he wasn't here to catch children, but to catch monsters."

  "What's there to be afraid of?" Er Tiao puffed out his chest, "We'll go together and beat the monster until it kneels down and begs for mercy."

  He took a big step forward and was the first to walk into the unknown forest of young people.